Discovery of the First in Class 9-N-Berberine Derivative as Hypoglycemic Agent with Extra-Strong Action

Berberine is well known for its ability to reduce the blood glucose level, but its high effective dose and poor bioavailability limits its use. In this work we synthesized a new derivative of berberine, 9-(hexylamino)-2,3-methylenedioxy-10-methoxyprotoberberine chloride (SHE-196), and analyzed the profile of its hypoglycemic effects. Biological tests have shown that the substance has a very pronounced hypoglycemic activity due to increased insulin sensitivity after single and multiple dosing. In obese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice, it was characterized by improved glucose tolerance, decreased fasting insulin levels and sensitivity, decreased total body weight and interscapular fat mass, and increased interscapular brown fat activity. All these effects were also confirmed histologically, where a decrease in fatty degeneration of the liver, an improvement in the condition of the islets of Langerhans and a decrease in the size of fat droplets in brown adipose tissue were found. Our results indicate that 9-(hexylamino)-2,3-methylenedioxy-10-methoxyprotoberberine chloride could be the first in a new series of therapeutic agents for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

Impacts of Crime on Socio-Economic Development

Crime is as old as man and it exists in every society in respective of its level of development. The rate at which criminals operate unhindered in most societies especially in developing countries around the world is worrisome. Crime creates fear and untold suffering among people. Crime often stands as a barrier to socio-economic growth of society, discourages investment, increases the cost of transactions and ultimately fuel migration which eventually creates economic development disparities around the world. The aim of this study is to analyze the manifestation of crime the world over with a view to intimating government of all countries to have a firm control of all criminal activities in their respective countries for a better society. The approach methodology is based on a literature review of scientific journals and reports. Secondary data were sourced from both published and unpublished works as the study applies descriptive method. The main results showed various manifestations of crimes such as banditry, kidnapping, rape, stealing and murder among others. Therefore, crime fuels corruption and destabilizes development of any society. In conclusion, crime knows no boundary nor personality as it affects people at all levels. This sad activity will continue to be a major factor of lack of socio-economic development if no strong action is taken by governments to effectively tackle the activities of criminals, terrorists and bandits around the world. Received: 14 May 2021 / Accepted: 5 August 2021 / Published: 5 September 2021

A Comparative Study on Seismic Assessment of Building Using SMA in Base Isolation and Beam Column Joints

The seismic design of the moment-resistant plastic frames is aimed at forcing the structure to respond to the strong action of the weak beam, in which plastic loops are expected to form into beams on the faces of the columns. The regions of the khang are described in detail in such a way that the output of longitudinal steel bars allows to dissipate the energy of the earthquake. If SE SMA is used as a reinforcement instead of steel in the right places of the hinges or in the basic insulation, it will not only be able to dissipate adequate seismic energy, but also restore its original shape after the seismic event. Due to the higher cost compared to the cost of other building materials, SMA longitudinal ribs can be used together with steel ribs in the articulated areas of the beams. Such BCJs can allow design engineers to design connections that show minor damage and mitigate joint repairs after an earthquake. Keywords: Seismic, base isolation, SMA, beam, column & joints

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF KALYANAKA KSHARA PREPARED BY PUTA METHOD AND FURNACE METHOD TO ASSESS ITS PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Ayurveda, the science of life is as old as the Vedic age and now a days Ayurvedic medicines are becoming popular day by day all across the world. The Ayurvedic therapeutics are mainly based on various kinds of dosage forms. Panchavidha kashaya kalpana is the basic form and many formulations are developed over time having long shelf life, stability, strong action etc. Kshara kalpana is the alkaline substance obtained from the ash of plants, minerals and animal products and has been widely used due to its minimal dose and potential action. Kalyanaka Kshara is a widely used formulation mentioned in our classics which is prepared by Antardhooma vidhi. In the present study Kalyanaka Kshara has been prepared using puta method as well as using muffle furnace. Physicochemical characterization of both the samples were done.

Wellness Through Volunteering

Beginning in 2004, long before the CSR Act 1 ushered a new spirit in corporate contribution in social development, iVolunteer has worked with over 100 leading Indian and multinational companies across a range of volunteering types from one-time episodic volunteering to more recently virtual volunteering. Our programmes have the potential to engage a range of employee motivations to volunteer. In this article, we examine the perceived notions about volunteering impact on well-being and if it can make a difference to work life? We share our experience over the years and will examine the impact of volunteering on wellbeing and positive mental health of the volunteers. There are almost no known Indian studies that explore this in detail. Individual companies do report higher satisfaction among employees who volunteer, regarding their work life. The article will draw upon insights from the HR community as well as from those executing volunteering in corporates in addition to some conclusions that we will draw based on some research studies. We hope to provide some possible ways forward for corporates to play a part in greater citizen engagement while creating pathways for mindful volunteering benefitting their employees both from a work and a societal perspective. The aim is to create a strong action plan to increase volunteering to both serve a social purpose and sustain the same by drawing out the positive impact that it can have on the individual.

The Roman Virtue of Pietas and the Glorification of the Deceased Wife (CIL VI, 1527 “Laudatio Turiae”)

The subject of this paper is the multiplicity of meaning of the word pietas as it is used in the famous inscription CIL VI, 1527 called Laudatio Turiae. In revealing traditional and innovative aspects of this notion, the author tries to see the ideology of relations in the Roman family of the laudator and the laudata behind it, and to set it into the context of the changing world in the times of the Late Republic and the Principate within the Roman history.The inscription reveals that, in the eyes of laudator, pietas is the most important virtue of his defunct wife, laudata. In the course of the research, three features of pietas are marked out: 1) the virtue of pietas is operative exclusively in the sphere of family relations; 2) pietas relations always presuppose the hierarchical ones (e.g. children to the father / mother, wife to husband, younger brother / sister to the elder one); 3) the virtue of pietas always implies a strong action. Some new aspects of the functioning of the virtue of pietas can be observed when exploring the usage of the word in the inscription. For the first time in the Latin literature, the word pietas signifies the transfer of the virtue of pietas into the female domain, using it to describe the relation of the younger sister to the elder. But the most striking innovation is an inversion of the hierarchical order of children to the parents. For the first time, pietas means the duty of the parents to bring up their children in the best manner possible – an obligation which will find its place in the Roman law codes.The large usage of the notion of pietas and experimentation with its meaning, which finds parallels in the poetry of the Augustan age (Virgil, Ovid) signifies the susceptibility of the laudator to the ideas of the Augustan policies and his ideological stances.The article is preceded by a Lithuanian translation of the inscription with a short introduction.

The Research Progress of Direct Thrombin Inhibitors

Blood coagulation is the process of changing the blood from the flowing state to the gel state. It is an important part of the hemostatic function. Coagulation is a process by which a series of coagulation factors are sequentially activated, and finally thrombin is formed to form fibrin clot. Direct thrombin inhibitors are important anticoagulant drug. These drugs can selectively bind to the active site of thrombin, inhibit thrombin activity, have strong action and high specificity, and have important significance in the clinical treatment of thrombus diseases. Some of them come from natural products of animals or plants, and many of them have been applied in the clinic. The other part is derived from the design, synthesis and activity studies of small molecule inhibitors. This review discusses the progress of direct thrombin inhibitors in recent years.

Vitamin D deficiency, the urban epidemic: a cross-sectional study from Bhopal, India

Background: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin involved in the regulation of calcium homeostasis and bone health. Vitamin D deficiency results in abnormalities in calcium, phosphorous, and bone metabolism. We undertook a study in our part of the country to register the incidence of the deficiency in our community, and compared Urban and Rural communities to understand the cause of the deficiency.Methods: This retrospective non-randomised cross-sectional study was carried out on asymptomatic patients undergoing blood tests due to various causes. 257 individuals consented to be part of the study and were divided into Urban (n=143) and Rural (n=114) groups. Incidence of Vitamin D deficiency, and various socio-behavioural parameters were compared.Results: The prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency was 91.6% in the Urban population and 66.5% in the rural population, which is statistically significant (p<0.00001). This was observed despite the urban group having statistically better nutritional status and lower tobacco consumption.Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is a widespread condition in community. Clinically diagnosed cases represent only the tip of the iceberg. This silent epidemic needs to be addressed with due attention and strong action.

Capital Flight, Hard Mineral Resources Exports and Political Governance Crisis in the Central African Republic: How Far We have Learned?

The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration is applied to examine the role of political governance crisis in the relationship between hard mineral resources exports particularly diamond, and gold and Capital flight in the Central African Republic over the period of 1978-2010. The results of short-run show that official development assistance, gross national expenditures have a negative and significant impact on capital flight while the interaction of political governance crisis and hard mineral resources, GDP per capita have a positive and significant effect with capital flight. Moreover, governance crisis, exports of hard mineral resources has a negative and insignificant impact on capital flight. The results of the long run show a negative and significant effect on governance crisis, official development assistance and gross of national expenditures. The interaction term between hard mineral resources and GDP growth have a positive and significant effect on capital flight. However, export of hard mineral resources exhibits a positive but insignificant effect on capital flight. Without strong action to stop and promote political governance stability and the implementation of appropriate reforms at institutional level in CAR’s hard minerals resources sector, success in the fight against capital flight is unlikely.

How Personality and Policy Predict Pandemic Behavior: Understanding Sheltering-in-Place in 55 Countries at the Onset of COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19 within any given country or community at the onset of the pandemic depended in part on the sheltering-in-place rate of its citizens. The pandemic led us to revisit one of psychology’s most fundamental and most basic questions in a high-stakes context: What determines human behavior? Adopting a Lewinian interactionist lens, we investigate the independent and joint effects of macro-level government policies and micro-level psychological factors—i.e., personality—on whether individuals sheltered-in-place. We analyzed data collected in late March and early April 2020 from 101,005 participants in 55 countries, a time period that coincided with the early and accelerating stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. This time period also contained substantial variation in the stringency of governmental policy towards sheltering-in-place, both between countries and within each country over time. Analyses revealed that personality and the stringency of governmental policies independently predicted sheltering-in-place rates. Policy stringency was positively related to sheltering-in-place. For the personality dimensions, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism all predicted higher rates of sheltering-in-place, whereas extraversion was negatively related to staying at home. In addition, two personality traits—openness to experience and neuroticism—interacted with governmental policy to predict whether individuals sheltered-in-place; openness and neuroticism each had weaker effects on sheltering-in-place as governmental policies became stricter. Theoretically, the findings demonstrate that individual differences predict behavior (i.e., sheltering-in-place) even when governments take strong action targeting that behavior. Practically, they suggest that even if governments lift their shelter-in-place restrictions, some individuals will shelter-in-place less than others.